Asteroid-tracking satellite not up to the job: review

A made-in-Canada satellite that was meant to hunt hard-to-see asteroid hurtling towards Earth launched late and may not be able to do the full job.

Jordan Press, Ottawa Citizen

Updated: July 6, 2014

0707 asteroid satellites: A technician puts some of the finishing touches on NEOSSat at the David Florida Laboratory in Ottawa before the satellite was sent to India for launch in 2013. Janice Lang / Postmedia Wire

A Canadian satellite designed to hunt hard-to-see asteroid hurtling by Earth was launched almost four years late, was underfunded and has raised concerns it can’t do its full job, according to a critical review of the project.

NEOSSat was launched on Feb. 25, 2013, eight years after the project was born – and 41 months late.

Reviewers found the primary contractor on the project — originally a company named Dynacon, which then sold its satellite business to Microsat Systems Canada Inc., which finished the project — failed to attract the experts needed to finish the satellite, which forced the Canadian Space Agency to dedicate more resources to the project than it wanted. That, in turn, caused it to overspend: The agency doled out just under $13.98 million, but budgeted about $12.97 million for its portion of the project. (The project was a joint initiative with Defence Research and Development Canada, an agency of the Department of National Defence. DRDC budgeted about $12 million for the job.)

Among the 11 people interviewed for the review, there was also finger-pointing about who was more responsible for the long delays in the project.

One interviewee told the reviewers the main contractor didn’t collaborate or subcontract “to the extent that it should have” because it wanted to “protect its competitive advantage.” Some interviewees from the Canadian space industry believed the CSA didn’t manage the project “efficiently or cost effectively.”

Those involved in the project told reviewers they are concerned the satellite won’t be able to capture 288 images per day, as planned.

“The main issue with NEOSSat is that although images have been acquired, the image quality does not at present meet the imagery requirements of the scientific aspects of the mission. NEOSSat is only taking engineering images and not scientific images,” reads the review, written in February for the CSA, but only recently posted to a government website.

“There is some concern on the part of the science team at the University of Calgary that its partnerships with other researchers internationally may be negatively affected should the quality of NEOSSat data imagery not improve.”

As of January 2014, scientists and engineers were still “fine pointing” the on-board software, something necessary to take precise images of orbiting objects. NEOSSat “was launched somewhat prematurely,” wrote the reviewers from the CSA’s audit directorate.

The space agency did not answer questions posed to it Friday. But according to the evaluation report, the agency said it has already implemented checks and oversight on future projects to prevent a repeat of the pitfalls with NEOSSat. But it added every project is unique, and unexpected issues could arise.

The review concluded the government was right to take on the project in the first place — even with all its attendant problems — because the private sector would have balked at going it alone given the limited commercial applications of tracking asteroids.

The cost of building and operating the satellite for two years is $25 million. Interviewees told reviewers that the project was under-funded by as much as 50 per cent.

The CSA hasn’t budgeted to run the satellite beyond two years, according to the review, even though NEOSSat could operate in space for many years. It will be up to the agencies and researchers using the data from NEOSSat “to provide the necessary funds to continue operating the satellite.”

jpress@ottawacitizen.com

Twitter.com/jpress

What is NEOSSat?

– The Near-Earth Object Surveillance Satellite was to the first space telescope focused on tracking asteroids, satellites and space debris.

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